Attorneys made oral arguments on both sides of the case that centered around two questions: Can a black defendant get justice from an all-white jury, and does the judge have the authority to dismiss a jury because of its racial composition?

"It has to be systemic. It has to be something about the procedures that is causing it. It can't just (be) chance that it happened. If it's chance that it happened, that's not violating the right," Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Dorislee Gilbert said.

Gilbert said it was chance that James Doss, who is black, ended up with an all-white jury in November 2014.

Because of that, Gilbert said, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens had no right to dismiss Doss' jury.

"Why doesn't the judge have the discretion to deal with that?" Justice Michell Keller said.

"Because there are other principles at play, including randomness, which is critical," Gilbert said.

But an attorney from the Louisville Public Defender's Office said Stevens and other judges must be able to decide whether defendants will get a fair trial.

"The judge has got to be able to look out or to put together the information that he or she has in front of them," said Cicely Lambert, a representative of the Louisville Public Defender's Office.

Justice Lisabeth Hughes said the case presents courts with a legal dilemma.

The U.S. Supreme Court says jury pools must be randomly selected, and the U.S. Constitution says juries must represent a cross-section of the community.

"I think one thing that this case and recent events have shown is that everybody needs to redouble their efforts to make sure the people who walk in the building are a cross-section of the community. I don't think anybody is going to dispute that," Hughes said.

The hearing Thursday did not address Stevens' suspension, which is related to comments he made on social media about the case. He will have to appear before the Judicial Conduct Commission, but the hearing has not yet been scheduled.